16:49
Richard Morris
(@richardmorrisuk)@NickAmes82 it’s worth noting that Everton (along with Liverpool, the mighty Villa & Man Utd) all still have the ability to win the league in their own hands. Tho in Everton’s case they would need to win the next Merseyside derby by 5 clear goals.
You have to dream the dream! Everton fans, think the top four – as a minimum – is *on* this year?
16:39
Teams
Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Mina, Godfrey; Doucoure, Davies; Bernard, Sigurdsson, Richarlison; Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Olsen, Lossl, Keane, Tosun, Nkounkou, Rodriguez, Gomes, Gordon, Branthwaite.
West Ham: Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma; Haller. Subs: Randolph, Johnson, Diop, Balbuena, Noble, Lanzini, Snodgrass, Yarmolenko, Antonio.
13:55
Hello …
… and happy new year! It’s what it says on the tin, a new one and hopefully a significantly better one. Trust you have all seen it in cheerfully, safely and healthily – and now let’s crack on with something that will hopefully be a thing of the past by the end of 2021: Premier League football without fans.
It’s a cracking prospect, though, this one! Everton go second if they win, at least for an hour or two, and would really tighten things up at the top by going a point behind them down the road. They have won four straight league games despite a significant number of injury problems so today can be filed under “opportunity”.
To be fair, facing West Ham counts less as one of those than it used to. David Moyes, who would have loved to take Everton on to the “next level” back in the day, returns with a side that looks decidedly competent these days, if a little shaky on the current form front with one win from their last six. Is this where, and when, they turn it back around and move level on points (again, for now) with that gaggle of clubs on the fringes of the European spots?
Find out soon! 5.30pm UK time soon!